Steel workers at a Tata Steel plant in Hartlepool have helped create the iconic roof suspended above Abu Dhabi’s new Louvre art gallery.

The plant supplied 1,900 tonnes of premium steel for the project, delivered as square hollow sections after being rolled by Austria’s Alukönigstahl.

In addition to housing hundreds of precious artworks, the newly built £1 billion gallery in Abu Dhabi is itself a work of art.

It features a latticed dome that is designed to protect visitors from the heat, while allowing the 55 rooms and galleries it covers to experience natural light.

The canopy is the size of five football pitches, supported by 63 super-size elements made from steel profiles.

Andrew Ward, the works manager at Tata Steel (www.tatasteel.com), said: “The team at Hartlepool is proud to have produced steel for what is definitely one of the world’s stand-out new buildings.

“Our technical capability to manufacture steel hollow sections is well proven, and I am confident that this was a key consideration in the tender evaluation. Tata Steel has a global track record of managing complex project packages.”

The Louvre Abu Dhabi was the result of an agreement signed between the United Arab Emirates and France. It presents both ancient and contemporary works of historic, cultural and sociological interest from around the world.